Fayette Alexander Jones; Created by General Books

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CHAPTER XV. MINING DISTRICT OF THE SIERRA OSCURA AND SAN ANDREAS
RANGES. Since these two mountain ranges are more or less
mineralized throughout their whole extent and the occurrence of
their ores appear closely related genetically and in their physical
constitution, it would seem proper to group and discuss the various
mining districts and camps under one general heading. The Sierra
Oscura and San Andreas ranges are very similar in appearance to the
Sandia mountains, which lie immediately east of Albuquerque. They
are vast tilted blocks and bear in their facial expressions, along
their bold escarpments, evidence of a most profound fault; the
throw being nearly one mile perpendicularly. This fault line seems
to have passed through the little Burro Gap which marks the
dividing point between the two ranges; for in the Sierra Oscura
range lying to the north its scarp faces the plains of the Jornada
del Muerto, while to the south, the San Andreas present a similar
appearance fronting the east, with its precipitous face looking
down on the mysterious plains of the "white sands." The ores found
in these ranges of mountains are iron, copper, gold, silver, lead,
zinc, mica and nuorite. All of the mining districts lying in the
Oscuras are frequently alluded to as the Oscura district. For
convenience we will begin at the north end of the Sierra Oscu ra
range and proceed south and to the San Andreas range taking the
various districts and camps in their respective order. Jones
District. This district lies in the north end of the Sierra Oscura
in Socorro county and was established in 1902. P. C. Bell, an old
time prospector and Fred Schmidt, who is a rancher on the Jornada
plains southeast of Hansonburg, were the principalfounders. The
name was given, in honor of P. A. Jones,...